A record 30,090 students started computer science degree courses in 2020, an increase of 7.6% on last year, Swindon-based BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, has said.

There was a large increase in students accepted onto specialist artificial intelligence (AI) degrees, with an extra 140 students, representing a 65.1% increase on 2019.

Women account for 16.2% of all computer science students in 2020, up 1% on last year, according to analysis of UCAS data by BCS.

BCS said:

“If this rate continues, it will be 30 years before there is gender parity in computer science degrees. In the UK, men are ten times more likely than women to be studying a computer science subject in 2020."